Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless by Aaron Ryan

The sixth installment of Aaron Ryan’s epic survival saga, Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless brings readers into a new wave of global conflict against a voracious alien enemy.

After nearly 20 years of struggle against the extraterrestrial Gorgons, humanity has finally reclaimed its home, scouring the planet to eradicate every last paralyzing invader and beginning the long process to rebuild. The diabolical threat from the previous American president – a series of potentially world-ending nuclear strikes – has been eliminated, and she has been replaced by the rebel leader turned global hero, Vance Cardona.

Backed up by battle-tested allies like Miguel […]

Review: Diane: True Survivor by Ward V.B. Lassoe

A visceral and intensely personal memoir about trauma, resilience, forgiveness, and grace, Diane: True Survivor as told to Ward V.B. Lassoe is a portrait of heartbreaking fortitude.

Drawing readers through the tangled movements of Diane’s repeatedly fractured life, this is a vivid account of one woman’s determination to transcend the past, even with all the odds set against her. A detailed and thoroughly unflinching story, this dictated memoir looks at the situations forced upon her, poor choices she made and regretted, and moments of moral clarity that likely saved her life and any hope for a future.

Beginning with a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-12-09T15:47:48+02:00December 9th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: The Discovery of Magic by L. J. Evias

An archery champion and her unlikely fellowship are transported to a mystical realm in dire need of saving in The Discovery of Magic by L. J. Evias, the creative first novel in the Intrigue of Magic series.

Facing the prospect of moving away and leaving behind all she loves, Alice Harper is determined to win an archery scholarship and find a tangible reason to stay. However, when she and her pals stumble through a mysterious cave portal to another world, the extracurricular stakes get significantly higher. Separated upon their arrival, these five young travelers must navigate a highly divided world […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-12-05T12:47:30+02:00December 5th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: The Remembering by Charles Paul Collins

A richly imagined family legacy set against the backdrop of a perpetually changing world, The Remembering: Of Leather and Stone by Charles Paul Collins blends fact and fiction into a compelling American saga.

Remarkable in scope, emotion, and timeliness, this fact-based novel depicts the shifting tides of American society as it moved through the horrors of the Civil War, the violent battles for labor rights across the country, disruptive technological revolutions, and the growing pains of a nation still wrestling with its racial and cultural identities, all through the lens of the author’s own family. Told through fabricated journal entries […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-12-03T14:30:31+02:00December 2nd, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: A Mage’s Path by I.L. Cruz

The dramatic final installment of The Enchanted Isles series, A Mage’s Path by I.L. Cruz concludes this sweeping saga of magical revelation and selfless heroism.

Having left Canto behind, along with a heartbroken friend and the love of her life, Inez seeks out the mysterious Avo in the realm of Faery for guidance on remedying the many magical crises surrounding her. Inez’s mother remains trapped in a powerful cowrie shell and her increasingly accessible magic still feels too out of control to wield against the very real enemies that threaten her, let alone aid her quest to return magic to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-12-02T19:11:21+02:00December 1st, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Divine in Essence by Yarrow Paisley

An irreverent and boundary-pushing collection of short stories, Divine in Essence by Yarrow Paisley is a burst of radical creativity with a heavy dose of darkness.

Playing artfully on the edge of perverse and profound, these tales descend into the casually macabre and disturbingly real, teetering between horror fiction and supernatural sci-fi. Each page brims with unearthly tales: a fever-afflicted daughter recounting visions from Hell to her mother, the soul of a young boy imprisoned in the dead eye of his father’s vexatious lover, the existential musings of a comedian’s corpse as it takes one more spin through the world, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-11-26T13:12:07+02:00November 25th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Latest Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Delaware from Freeways to E-ways by Dave Tabler

A wide-ranging and captivating review of the twentieth century in America’s first state, Delaware from Freeways to E-ways: First State, Solid-State by Dave Tabler is an accessible and entertaining piece of coffee table history, and the informative third book in the Delaware History Overview series. For a citizen of Delaware or any lover of US history, this book neatly sews Delaware’s contributions into the broader fabric of the American story.

Divided into four distinct sections – early century ambitions, the varied impacts of wartime, Delaware’s response to broader societal changes, and pioneering steps towards a digital future – this format […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-11-19T11:55:10+02:00November 19th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: History Book Reviews|

Review: A Life Full of Quarks by C.W. Johnson

Demonstrating the beauty and awe of growing up within the kaleidoscope of science, A Life Full of Quarks by C.W. Johnson is a mind-expanding novel following the life and misadventures of John Chant, a perennial explorer of the unknown.

Given his parents’ legacy as scientific minds at the top of their fields, it comes as no surprise that John grows up immersed in the endless questions and head-scratching mysteries of the natural world. Like a whiteboard scribbled with the equations of his existence, this fictional memoir is densely packed with anecdotal stories and snapshots of growing up amongst mad geniuses […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-12-10T12:12:19+02:00November 15th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|